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Sunday, April 1, 2012

HappyApril Fool'sDay!I'm not one for pranks, usually, but it's always fun to see what other people try to pull. I hope you all have a fun day no matter which end of the joke you find yourself on :-)...

We're back today for Lizzy Ford's Rhyn Trilogy Tour, and Lizzy has been kind enough to pop by for a little interview. In case you missed it, you can catch my review of Katie's Hellion (Rhyn Trilogy #1) HERE.

Be sure to enter the GIVEAWAY below for your own Rhyn Trilogy goodies!!!

Author Interview

Lizzy Ford

Rhyn Trilogy

GL: Go ahead and introduce yourself to everyone. :-)

Lizzy: Hello! I’m Lizzy. I’m a freak of nature writing machine who lives in southern Arizona with my very patient husband, three dogs and a cat. I’ve been writing since the third grade, when I wrote what I thought was the world’s best essay on how stars were really just huge balls of gas. From then, I was hooked, though I didn’t start publishing my stories until January 2011.

GL: Now, tell us a bit about the Rhyn Trilogy.

LF: The Rhyn Trilogy details the journey of the half-demon, Rhyn, and Katie, the human destined to be his mate. Flawed, unapologetic and unable to control his power, Rhyn has long been considered the black sheep of his family who can do nothing right. When forced to care for someone else for once, he struggles with his inherent weakness and his duty. If he can’t learn to fight alongside his brothers, he’ll lose his mate.

Katie is immune to the magic of immortals and finds herself being pursued by demons and immortals alike, both of which want to use her. She’s got one ally: Rhyn, whose half-demon nature impedes his ability to help her. Together, they must carve their own paths in immortal society in the midst of a war with demons, while learning to care for one another.

The Rhyn Trilogy is the prequel to the Rhyn Eternal series, which launches this fall. It’s been an incredible series for me in that it’s put me in contact with so many readers!

GL: You’ve written about 239875 books. Can you tell us a little about what else you have out there?

LF: Haha sure! I have the War of Gods series, which consists of three books currently and is another paranormal romance series; the Foretold Trilogy, a young adult fantasy series I launched in December; and a few single-titles, to include Kiera’s Moon (sci-fi romance); Maddy’s Oasis (contemporary romance); A Demon’s Desire (paranormal romance) and The Warlord’s Secret (fantasy romance.)

My paranormals – and Kiera’s Moon – are by far my most popular. Most of my readers consider my solitary contemporary romance to be a bomb!

GL: What inspired the Rhyn Trilogy?

LF: Dreams. Almost all my books start out in dreams. The scene where Katie is going to work on the commuter train and meets the kid, who then claims she’s his mama, was from a dream. From there, the puzzle pieces just fit themselves into place around the scene to create a story.

GL: I get SO many ideas from my dreams. Finding time to sit down and write about them is another story…

GL: Where did the mythology (The Council, etc.) of the story come from?

LF: I’m not sure. The Council originally had seven brothers: one who was assigned to protect a continent against evil. However, one of the brothers betrayed the others, and another (Rhyn) was sent to Hell for his inability to control his powers. In the first Rhyn book, the eldest brother is killed, which makes the Council start to splinter.

This one was pure imagination, as opposed to the mythology behind the War of Gods series, which was inspired by Slavic mythology. All of my fantasy and paranormal books normally have some sort of good vs. evil theme to them. I don’t know that the Rhyn Trilogy’s theme was particularly inspired by any one myth!

GL: Do you ever base your characters on anyone you know?

LF: I don’t know that I base them on people I know, but I do name my characters after people I know. “Katie” from the Rhyn Trilogy was named after my first rabid fan, Katie. “Jenn” from the War of Gods series was named after my second rabid fan by the same name. Another War of Gods character, Yully, was named by one of my fans.

I honestly never thought my writing would go anywhere, so when people started responding to me, I felt humbled and honored and felt naming characters after my biggest fans was one way of giving back.

GL: That is awesome! I’ll be on the lookout for Cassie… Hahahaha…

GL: If you can share, what is your absolute favorite scene from the trilogy?

LF: I want to say the scene at the end of Katie’s Hope (book 2), when the main characters figure out just how far they’ll go to protect one another. Rhyn is facing a fight with the demon lord and Death’s assassin, but he does it knowing 1- he might be able to save Katie and 2- he’ll probably die. Katie, on the other hand, knows how to save Rhyn, and that’s by basically killing herself. So they both barrel towards these decisions, and it’s a culmination of both emotions and the point where they both choose someone else above their own interests. I was proud of them. :-)

GL: If you were casting for the Rhyn Trilogy to hit the big screen, are there any faces in particular you’d choose to play the parts of: Rhyn? Katie? Kris? Ully?

Rhyn: Jason Mamoa. Dear me, that man is beautiful and has this honeyed growl of a voice. *swoons*

Katie: Emma Watson, because I love her earthy, natural beauty.

Kris: Chris Pine (the guy who played Captain Kirk in the new Star Trek.)

Ully: Elijah Wood, just because I really like him!

GL: Very nice! I had the hardest time picturing Ully, I totally get Elijah!

GL: Do you prefer the good guy or the bad guy or the bad guy with the good heart? ;-)

LF: I prefer the character able to face and overcome his weaknesses to do the right thing. :-) That, to me, shows the ultimate character of someone – to deal with diversity and obstacles but still make the right choice!

GL: What challenges have you faced in the writing/publishing process?

LF: The greatest initial challenge was spending ten years trying to find an agent or publisher who would give me the time of day. Before the e-publishing revolution, there really wasn’t a viable way for most writers to get their books into the hands of readers. So I did what everyone else did: sent in queries to people who never responded.

Once the e-pubbing technology appeared on the scene, I was a bit slow to adapt. I should’ve started 2-3 years before I did, but I still felt the stigma that used to go along with self-pubbing, that only people who couldn’t make it elsewhere would do such an awful thing as pay to publish their own books! It sounds ridiculous now, because I’ve seen the results of that path.

Aside from that, I used to work fulltime, prior to this past fall. Finding time to write meant I was ignoring my family, until I became a fulltime writer.

GL: What are some of your favorite authors/books?

LF: “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen is my all time favorite. I love “Keegan’s Chronicles” by Julia Crane (indie author.) “The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari” is one I’m reading now about how to change your life so that you actually enjoy it instead of rushing from one thing to the next. “Letters From a Bipolar Mother” by Alyssa Reyans is an incredible read about the mind of someone who suffers from depression.

LF: FOOD! I love all the kinds of food that are bad for me! Chocolates, pastries, breads, pastas, waffles, cookies … *sighs* but I’m on an eat-healthier kick because I need to look less round for my appearances this year!

GL: I’m not sure why God made food that is bad for you taste so darn good!

GL: Favorite quote?

I’m a fan of Hamlet, and I’ve always loved the “to be or not to be” speech where he says, “where ‘tis nobler in the mind’s eye to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them.”

GL: Do you write to music or keep it quiet? What do you like to listen to?

LF: It really depends. I prefer quiet, but I have an awful time focusing on anything. When I have a writing deadline, I’ll listen to music to drown out all the other stuff in my head so I can concentrate! Otherwise, I’m normally happy with just a quiet house.

Let’s see, I listen to lots of different things. It seems like certain books choose their own music. Rhyn’s Redemption (which I just released) had the theme music of “Little Lion Man.” Some of my others have had rap, electronica or classical going when I was writing.

GL: What are you working on now? What do we have to look forward to?

LF: Right now I’m wrapping up Rebel Heart, a futuristic romance I started in Jan/Feb but set aside when I hit a brick wall. Even I need a break, and that was the lesson I learned a couple of months ago! Next year, I’m taking Jan and Feb off without doing anything!

After that, the rest of the year is going to be crazy. I want to release another ten books this year. One down, nine to go (schedule below!) which includes launching three new series this year. And I’ve got three appearances where I’m booked as an exhibitor lined up so far: the Phoenix Comic Convention in May, the Book Expo America in NY in June and the Southern Festival of Books in October.

GL: I plan to attend the Southern Festival of Books, so I will definitely look you up! :-)

2012 tentative publishing schedule:

April: Rebel Heart

May: The Grey God (War of Gods)

June: Kiera’s Sun (Anshan Saga)

July: Dark Summer (Witchling Trilogy)

Aug: Autumn Storm (Witchling Trilogy)

Sep: Xander’s Chance (Original Beings)

Oct: Winter Kiss (Witchling Trilogy)

Nov: Gabriel’s Hope (Rhyn Eternal)

Dec: Shadow Rising (Foretold Trilogy)

About Lizzy

Lizzy Ford is the self-publishing phenom, author of the sweet paranormal romance series: "Rhyn Trilogy" and "War of Gods" series; and the young adult fantasy trilogy, “The Foretold,” all of which launched in 2011. She has also authored multiple single title young adult fantasy and paranormal romances. Lizzy's books have reached the bestseller lists on both Amazon US and Amazon UK in multiple categories. Widely considered a freak of nature by her contemporaries for her ability to write and publish a new book every 30-45 days, Lizzy attributes her success to a team that consists of her editor, graphics artist, I.T. Sherpa, and her rabid readers.

Lizzy released ten books in 2011 and intends to release another ten in 2012, including launching two more series. Lizzy’s books can be found on every major ereader library, to include: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Sony and Smashwords. She lives in southern Arizona with her husband, three dogs and a cat.

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